The Lotus
by Willowstead
Summary: The Party takes a day to enjoy The Pearl's other business, a day spa called The Lotus. A gender divided party discusses why two certain Wardens haven't... well, you know. Please R&R.
1. The Ladies' Day

Ladies Day at the Spa

A Dragon Age Fanfic

Before Elinora Cousland stood an array of men and women, all beautiful, all scantily clad, all giving her a come hither stare. She was pretty sure that her face was going to catch on fire from the intensity of her blush.

She dared look over at Alistair, terrified that he would be selecting his playmate for the evening. To her very deep relief he was blushing just as red as she was. Truthfully he looked ready to bolt. As for the rest of her companions, Wynne had a sly smile on her face and Sten was his usual stoic self.

"Um," her voice was something of a squeak, "no thank you. I think we need to head on."

"But you must have some sort of reward for your efforts," the proprietress, Sanga, insisted. "If this is not to your pleasure, perhaps we can offer something else at The Lotus."

"What's The Lotus?" Elinora couldn't keep the suspicion out of her voice.

"An Orlisian style spa." At Elinora's confused look, she continued. "It is a place of cleansing and relaxation. We offer massages, a steam room, meditation suites, a hot spring and mud baths. Gender segregated, of course."

For the life of her, Elinora couldn't figure out why one would take a bath in mud on purpose, but the rest of it sounded like heaven.

"A hot spring? In Denerim?" Wynne asked.

Sanga brushed it off. "Man-made, of course, but just as soothing as the real thing and cleaner as well."

"Interesting," the old mage replied.

Elinora looked to her. "Would you like to see it?"

Wynne nodded. "I'd like to make use of it, if we can take the time. These old bones would dearly love a good hot soak."

"If they had someone to clean our armor and a dog groomer, it would be perfect."

Sanga smiled. "We offer those services."

"Well, then I think our next stop is The Lotus." Elinora and Wynne exchanged a smile.

Sten grunted in disapproval behind her, but Elinora had a plan. "Sten, would you please go back to camp and let the others know what we are up to."

"Must I come back?"

"No, as long as someone brings Finn along. That hound is started to get a bit ripe."

Sten nodded once and departed.

Wynne turned an arched eyebrow on Alistair. "And you?"

"Um…" He was still blushing. "Well, my armor does need a good cleaning…"

Elinora looked to Sanga. "Lead the way."

The Lotus was five doors down from The Pearl, close but not too close for more discriminating clientele. A simple courtyard lead to a foyer, where servants lead Elinora and Wynne one way, and Alistair another.

Sanga insisted that everything was on the house, any and all services they might desire. Elinora planned to make her regret it. Armor sent off with a servant for cleaning, she wrapped herself in the light robe supplied by the spa and headed to her first treatment.

She started with a scrub and massage. The masseuse, a female elf named Alegri, first doused her in warm water then delicately rubbed her down with a mixture of sea salt and oil. Mother had often used a salt scrub to keep her skin soft, not that soft skin was something that Elinora needed now, but it still felt so good.

Scrubbed, massaged and oiled, Elinora slipped into the hot spring with a contented sigh. She hadn't been this clean in a long time, nor this alone. She knew Wynne was here somewhere, probably getting a massage. She had no idea what Alistair was up to, but hoped he was getting himself cleaned up too. The picture of Alistair, shiny as a new silver, put a soft smile on her face, but also reminded her about the quest they were on.

She shoved the dark thoughts aside. For this moment, for right now, Elinora was not going to worry about anything but her own peace.

Her quiet did not last long. With the slap of bare feet and splash Leliana and Morrigan joined her in the spring. Morrigan quickly sank to her chin in the bubbling water and Leliana giggled. "Really? We all have the same womanly bits here, or is there something you're trying to hide? A third nipple, perhaps, or webbed toes?"

Morrigan shot her a dark look. "Whom have you been getting your information from? Ridiculous rumors and stereotypes."

"Forgive me." Leliana stretched, completely comfortable with her nudity. "Just trying to get you to relax a little. After all, that is the point of these places."

"You're familiar with, what did she call it, a spa?" This concept was just foreign to Elinora, brought up far from city indulgences.

"Oh yes," Leliana bubbled. "Val Royeaux has several of them at various class levels. Lady Celene was very fond of a day at the spa."

"And how does this compare?" asked Morrigan tartly.

Leliana shrugged. "Not too bad. There's no music, which is a shame, but the treatments are more than adequate."

Elinora splashed at the bubbles. "Interesting that it should be attached to a brothel."

"Not at all. That's how they got started in Orlais as well. Pleasure breeds pleasure you know. And I understand its one way some deal with courtesans that have become too old or simply wish to retire from that life."

Morrigan gave Leliana a hard look. "You know some interesting things for a Chantry girl."

Leliana scooted a next to Morrigan flirtatiously. "I wasn't always a Chantry girl, you know…" Morrigan slid away from the redhead with such speed that she crashed into Elinora, who shook her head and got out of the spring.

"You two…" she sighed and wrapped a towel around her rapidly pruning body. "I'm headed for the steams and some peace and quiet." Robe in hand, she headed into the steam room.

Morrigan gave Leliana a good splash, which was returned with interest. Elinora shook her head. She and Fergus had gotten into splash fights as children when they went for a swim in the millpond. It was even sillier with adults.

The steam room was not as empty as Elinora was hoping. Wynne sat on a cedar bench, her eyes closed and a restful look on her face. Elinora made an effort to move quietly, a little extra stealth than was needed, and found a seat on another cedar bench.

"This was a very good idea." Wynne sighed with contentment.

Elinora made a small sound of agreement and allowed the steam to soak into her.

"So, when are you and Alistair going to stop staring at each other like starving children and get on with it?"

"What?" Of all the questions to come from Wynne, she wasn't expecting that. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh don't be coy, child. Its obvious that the two of you have a growing attachment."

Elinora sighed. "So much for my skills of obfuscation."

Wynne chuckled as Morrigan and Leliana joined them in the steams. "A blind man could see it," Wynne continued. "You protect each other in battle, he touches you at every opportunity…"

"Oh!" Leliana perked up. "Are we talking about the great unrequited romance of Elinora and Alistair?"

Elinora threw her head back in frustration. "There is no romance."

"Oh please," chimed in Morrigan. "You two spend most evenings sitting by the fire and talking to the exclusion of all others."

"About Grey Warden matters!"

"Two nights ago your two were laughing until both of you fell over." Leliana added. "Can't be all somber Grey Warden matters."

"Sometimes one story leads into another…" Elinora knew it was a feeble excuse.

"You should kiss him!" Leliana brightly suggested.

Elinora opened her mouth to protest, but Wynne beat her to it. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"Thank you."

"Alistair needs to kiss her."

Elinora buried her sweaty face in her hands.

"I think the boy needs that little conquest," Wynne continued. "A positive response would certainly be good for his ego."

Morrigan raised a skeptical eyebrow. "He needs to get more arrogant?"

"All rulers need some arrogance, but it's a delicate balance to strike." Wynne leaned back against the wall. "He had suffered a great many blows these last few weeks, as have you. In fact, I believe both of you have gone through massive upheavals in your lives. A little comfort could do wonders."

"Comfort?" Elinora didn't like the taste of that word. "You make me sound no better than one of the Pearl's workers."

"Not at all." Wynne's smile was just a little suggestive. "Most people will seek others out in times of stress. As long as your enter into it knowing your heart, all will be well, eventually."

"Eventually?"

"Of course. What's the fun of a torrid love affair without the pain to accentuate the pleasure?"

The three younger women gapped at the elder. Wynne, stately, serene and downright grandmotherly, did not have torrid love affairs. She shook her head at the girls. "I wasn't born old, you know."

Leliana recovered first, giggling. "Now there are tales there, I'm sure. But Wynne, what if it isn't an affair. What if its true love?"

Morrigan gave a scoffing snort. "As if that boy would know love if it bit him."

"Which is why it's more likely." Elinora could see Leliana composing a love ballad in her head. "He's pure of heart and intention, just right for true love."

"Well, that takes me out." Elinora shrugged. "Nothing pure about me."

"Really?" Wynne gave her a penetrating look. "Because I haven't seen anything I would call impure from you."

"I loot bodies of those I've killed. I'd make a deal before attacking and I steal whatever I think will be useful, even if that's just to sell."

Morrigan looked at Elinora blandly. "And thus we are fed and well armed. If you really just cared about profit you would have taken the offer from the Crows."

"I'm no assassin." Not that it had stopped Elinora from learning a thing or two from Zevran.

"Nor are you some wanton hussy, looking for someone to keep your bed warm." Wynne shook her head. "You judge yourself too harshly, girl."

"Hussy or not, that doesn't change that Alistair needs to make the next move, or so you have concluded."

"Yes," Wynne said slowly. "I'm sure there's a way to prod him along…"


	2. The Men's Day

The Men's Day at The Lotus

A Dragon Age: Origins Fanfic

(Note: I've swiped a bit of dialogue from the game for this – why mess with brilliance there? Also, all mirror images with "Ladies' Day at the Lotus" (and other fic of mine) are completely intentional.)

Alistair could get used to this.

The warm waters of the man-made hot spring bubbled delightfully around him, easing muscles already kneaded into submission by a charmingly silent masseuse into and even more relaxed state. He hadn't felt this clean or calm in ages. Blight or no Blight, he was going to enjoy this.

Only one little thing kept dragging his mind out of utter bliss, and he bet she didn't even know it.

Elinora Cousland.

She was somewhere here, and probably just as naked as he was.

And from somewhere in the distant back of his mind, he heard the Reverend Mother lecture on the virtues of chastity and purity.

Alistair was rapidly shoving away those thoughts, when, with hardly a sound, Zevran slipped into the room and into the spring. He heaved a greatly contented sigh and settled into the water. "I have heard of places like this, but never experienced one. 'Tis bliss indeed. Almost makes up for our fearless leader's lack of a sense of adventure."

"What?" Alistair gave Zevran and incredulous look. Of all the faults he could find with Elinora (being too pretty counted, right?), no sense of adventure was not one of them.

"There she had the choice of any man or woman; human, dwarf or elf, that her little heart could desire and she turns it all down for a bubble bath." Zevran slapped at the merrily churning water.

"I don't know." Alistair leaned his head back on the edge of the spring. "I'm finding this much more pleasant than hopping into bed with a prostitute."

"Then you have never experience a truly talented prostitute." Zevran sighed wistfully.

"Um… no. Not at all." Alistair could feel his face heat and blamed the spring.

Zevran quirked an eyebrow at him. "Or any woman for that matter?"

Alistair was spared answering that question by Oghren, who came striding in, naked as the cliffs of the Frostback Mountains and twice as haughty.

"I never thought I would live to see the day." He hopped into the spring, splashing Alistair and Zevran. "These women here. Got me pinned down and scrubbed up then did the most sodding amazing thing I have ever known."

Alistair and Zevran exchanged looks. "What?"

"They combed out my beard!" Oghren tugged on the neatly plaited braids worked into the red lengths of his beard. The grizzled hair was almost shiny. "If my ma had told me that it was that much fun, I would have done it years ago!"

"Talented women indeed." Zevran cocked an eyebrow at Alistair, who rolled his eyes in response.

"So laddie," Oghren threw his arms onto the ledge of the spring, better to keep from slipping under the water, looked over to Alistair, "you with the boss, aye?"

"Pardon?"

"You and the boss. Rolling your oats…"

"I don't know…"

Zevran snickered.

"Polishing the footstones…"

"…what you're talking…"

"Tapping the midnight still, if ye will…"

"Oh dear Maker, stop!" Alistair's blush could have lit the red light district they were in. "I get it, I get it, and no. I am not having a love affair with Lady Cousland. It's not like that."

Zevran's ears twitched. "Why ever not? She is certainly pretty enough, you seem compatible in all the ways that matter."

"That's not…"

The elf barreled on. "And have you seen how she looks at you? My friend, I am jealous. If such a woman would look at me like that, well, nothing would stop me from…"

"Foraging the moaning statue…" Oghren broke in.

Alistair moaned and Zevran laughed, "Just so, my fuzzy friend."

"Listen you two, I am not going to continue to discuss our leader like this. Its not dignified."

"Well then, if you are not interested, then perhaps you wouldn't mind if I pursued her further?"

Alistair gave Zevran another incredulous look, more of a glare. "She'll shoot you down in a heartbeat, again."

"Are you certain? These nights in camp get very lonely, you know."

Oghren grunted, "Aye they do, but ye get a good wench and a good mug…"

Oghren's lonely night solution was interrupted by a bark, a yell from the corridor and a monstrous splash. Finn threw his Mabari bulk into the spring like a puppy in a millpond. He surfaced with a doggy sneeze and a grin.

"Ferocious war hound indeed," Alistair muttered, heaving himself out of the spring. Towel firmly wrapped around his waist, he headed for the steams.

Closing the door on the sputtered apologies from the spa attendants, he flopped onto an empty cedar bench with a frustrated sigh.

"The female Grey Warden is distracting you again?" rumbled Sten.

Alistair buried his face in his hands.


	3. The Lotus Blossoms

The Lotus – Chapter 3

The Lotus Blossoms

A Dragon Age: Origins Fanfic

The time had come.

When they had stepped away from their mission into a slice of paradise, they did so knowing that it would have to end. Elinora had given them three hours of rest, rejuvenation and cleansing and now it was time to get back to work.

The setting sun made the foyer and the courtyard glow with a warm orange light. Trellised jasmine blossoms were just starting to open for the evening, their perfume offering one last moment of sweetness before one passed through the gates and back to the gritty city. Elinora sighed and admired the sight before following her female companions into the foyer.

Wynne and Leliana exited the changing rooms, Leliana still pressing the mage for details about how magic felt. Morrigan sauntered to the gate and waited.

From the men's side, Sten and Finn paced out, militant even in their relaxed state, followed by Alistair.

And Elinora Cousland's nineteen-year-old heart stopped.

Shiny as a new silver, indeed.

His armor was polished like for a parade, blonde hair clean and combed, face scrubbed and shaved. The slightly sheepish look on his face did nothing to deter from the simple fact that he was a golden god. Her knees went weak.

Alistair's brown eyes met her blue-green, but they had started at her drakescaled toes. Oh, he'd noticed how each scrap of leather clung so perfectly to each and every curve of her female form, but this gave him a whole new appreciation. It was new armor, delivered while they were at the spa and made for her, every inch, every contour. Master Wade had even added a few touches that complemented her peacock eyes and chestnut hair.

After this was all over, he would give Wade anything he wanted.

And then she had to go and do something that made it all the better; she bit her lower lip.

He was looking for something to say that wouldn't be too stupid, when a quick hand gave him a strong push. Zevran, exiting the changing rooms with Oghren, arguing about the merits of wine versus ale, saw an opportunity and took it.

Alistair staggered the two steps between him and Elinora, lightly bumping into her, his hands catching himself on her shoulders. His momentum stopped with their noses barely an inch apart.

"You know, we have to stop…never mind." Alistair opened his pack and pulled out something wrapped in a handkerchief. "Here look at this." He handed it to Elinora. "Do you know what this is?"

She opened the handkerchief gently. Inside was a prefect red rose.


End file.
